What is a care and support assessment?

A care and support assessment is a discussion between you (or the person you look after if you are a carer) and a trained person either from the council or another organisation that the council works with. You will talk about the care and support needs you have and the goals you want to achieve. We will use the assessment to identify your care and support needs, and to discuss how these could be met. We will always consider ways that your wellbeing can be supported.

If you have care and support needs you can call one of our specialist care advisers on 01225 396000, option 2 who will have an initial assessment conversation with you and may do some or all of the following:

give you good information and advice about care and support, or signpost you to other good sources of information

help you to identify your care and support needs and the changes you want to make in your life

help you to identify the best ways in which you can make these changes

offer timely and appropriate reablement and preventative support first before considering ongoing support

discuss what support could help sustain you if you are a carer

work with you to plan your support or tell you about others who can help you with this if you prefer

let you know if there are any immediate services that can help

give you advice about other agencies or services that may be able to meet your care needs

advise you of any charges for services

talk to you about the information you give us, as we may need to share this with other individuals and organisations

talk to you about the other options available.

Refer you for a more in-depth care and support assessment if they are not able to provide you with all the help and information that you need when you first contact us. This assessment will be an opportunity for you to consider how you are managing with your daily life, explain what you are finding difficult and what might make life easier. A trained social care worker will work with you to understand what care and support needs you may have. The assessment form that we use can be found here. We will send this to you before your assessment to help you prepare.

If your needs meet the national eligibility criteria we will work with you to arrange and plan the support that you may need. The person doing your assessment may talk to other people involved in your life like friends, family, doctors or nurses.

Wellbeing Options supports people in Bath and North East Somerset to live full and independent lives. Here you will find information about local care providers, services and activities, along with links to other useful websites and resources

You will talk to a trained social care worker who will ask you about your daily life and anything you are having difficulties with. They will make sure you have a chance to clearly express your own views and preferences about your life. You can see a support assessment form here.

The social care worker will ask whether you are happy for them to get in touch with anyone else involved with your health and wellbeing. This includes any unpaid friends or relatives who help to support you as well as professionals like doctors, nurses or physiotherapists.

They may ask you about any friends or family members who help look after you, to find out more about what they do for you. If a friend or family member helps to support you, they are also entitled to a carers’ assessment.

If you have substantial difficulty in being involved in the assessment, and there is no suitable friend or family member to support you and represent your wishes, we will offer you someone who can speak on your behalf. This person is known as an independent advocate. Find out more about support available if you need help making important decisions.

If you have specific communication needs such as needing an interpreter or a specialist communicator (for example if you are deaf/blind) we will make sure that you have someone who is specifically trained to help you communicate your views and decisions during your assessment.

Yes. You can bring a friend or family member just for support or to help you express your wishes. If you have substantial difficulty expressing what you want and there is nobody you know who you would like to come with you, we will offer you someone who can help express your wishes or speak on your behalf. This person is known as an independent advocate. Find out more about advocates.

This will depend on your needs and whether we need to talk to other people following your assessment. If you have urgent needs, we will make some temporary support arrangements while your assessment is completed.

If you are found to be eligible for care and support, we will complete a financial assessment to work out how much (if anything) of your care and support is paid for by us and how much is paid for by you.

This will depend on your needs and wishes. We will always provide advice and information and consider ways with you that may help reduce or delay your need for care and support. If you have eligible needs your social care worker will help you draw up a care and support plan. This may include:

We will talk to you about the needs you do have and help you find out about other support that can help you. We fund and link with a wide range of charities, voluntary organisations and advisers who help people who do not have eligible needs but still need some support.

To find out about what services, groups and activities are available locally for people with your needs, look at our things to do section.

Once we are confident that we have a clear picture of your needs we will work with you, taking into account your needs and preferences to create a care and support plan. We may need to do a financial assessment depending on the cost of the support you need. We do this to work out what, if anything, you need to pay to cover the cost of the care and support you need.

You will get a copy of your completed assessment and how we have worked out your eligibility.